Grateful Dead Reunion Show Tickets Are Making Scalpers Very Wealthy

The Grateful Dead song "One Thing to Try" cautions listeners "Don't be a collector of more than you need," but that doesn't apply to tickets to the band's 50th anniversary reunion shows, which are fetching absurd prices on the secondary market.

Stereogum reports that scalpers are asking for as much as $10,000 for tickets to the three shows, which are scheduled to take place between July 3-5 at Soldier Field in Chicago and are being billed as the final performance by the surviving "core four" members together as the Dead. As the report notes, because the shows are taking place at Soldier Field, Chicago Bears season ticket holders got first crack at pre-orders, and a number of them took the opportunity to get in early and flip tickets to some of the year's most highly anticipated concerts.

But even if record-breaking sales have left many Dead fans without a way to be at the shows in person, all is not lost. Pete Shapiro, co-producer of the event, tells Billboard that the band is committed to bringing the folks at home as close to the stage as they can get — possibly by arranging a simulcast.

"We've definitely tapped into something, it's cultural phenomenon time," said Shapiro. Saying he was interested in arranging for pay-per-view simulcast events at various venues, he added, "We want to provide video and audio, the best s--- out there, and try to bring it to people with the same vibe as being there."